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Hi Guys,What are your thoughts on having multiple rides for different purposes vs. one sweet (and expensive) ride to try and cover it all?

I have a sweet 26 in XC hardtail, but it is limited in doing some stuff a 29r FS could do easily it seems. Do you all take the opinion of different bikes for different purposes, or try to find one good combination that fits well and can do a little bit of everything?

I think I am leaning toward a stable of decent bikes that can do different tasks better for different experiences such as:

(obviously I will never be able to do them all unless I hit the lottery, but a couple of budget builds on the above over the years would be possible)It seems like it would be more fun to create lots of different builds over the years and keep them around instead of trying for the perfect Holy Grail bike that does it all. Thoughts?

If you can swing it different builds are the way to go. One do it all bike can produce some very rewarding riding when you complete a ride with a bike that isn't specific to that stlye of riding. With a stable you can always take your hardtail down a rough descent for the extra challenge or if you just want to go fast take the FS ride. I have three complete rides now. A Gaint trance FS, 24" rigid BMX, and my current 26" rigid that I can throw sus forks on if I like. For some reason though I prefer the 26" rigid for my do all.

I have a hard time enjoying anything other than my ss rigid 29er for single track riding. As much as I would love a fs or whatever I think it would just collect dust like the fs this rigid replaced almost five years ago.

Considering that most 5"-6" travel bikes being made now can do everything and do them extremely well. I see no need to have multiple bikes. You would just end up with multiple OK/good enough bikes. Take for instance a Fuel EX 9.9 Carbon, it is one of the most versatile 4" bikes on the planet or a stumpjumper evo carbon. With a good dropper post like a reverb and you can do everything on them. Want a little more agressivenss, look for an Intense 5" or step up to a Trek Slash or other enduro bike. If a 6" gravity machine can run 1X10 or 1X11 and still climb like a goat and pedal really well. Why would you ever own a pure bred XC bike if you're not racing it? I would take a long look at the new 650b machines or a solid 4-6" 26er.

To ride it really, really, really fast on tight twisty or flowing single track that doesn't have a lot of bumps, like Ern n' Burn, Nayles, Twister, Spiderberm, etc. My bike puts a sh*t eating grin on my face everytime i ride trails like that. It's not exactly a pure bred xc, just old school and my dream bike from before the technology for really good FS trail bikes was ubiquitous and cheap enough for me to afford.

I would take a long look at the new 650b machines or a solid 4-6" 26er.

Agreed. I think I am looking to get a 650b 4" FS or one i can get away with making b9er for the next ride. . . but I will probably keep the old hardtail rocket for days I want to ride like mentioned above. Maybe make it a 1x for even lighter and more fun. Problem of having just one bike to be proud of is there is always something new and more expensive right around the corner it seems like to me, and some days, you just want to take the old flame out for a ride or do something different for fun.

Agreed. I think I am looking to get a 650b 4" FS or one i can get away with making b9er for the next ride. . . but I will probably keep the old hardtail rocket for days I want to ride like mentioned above. Maybe make it a 1x for even lighter and more fun. Problem of having just one bike to be proud of is there is always something new and more expensive right around the corner it seems like to me, and some days, you just want to take the old flame out for a ride or do something different for fun.

I see your first point, if one wants an XC race machine because that's what they want to ride, more power to them. I wont knock a preference, more of just a helpful point of not pigeonholing ones self and regretting it later. 650b 4" does sound pretty fantastic, from what i've been able to gather a lot of people are starting to pick them up. Now my comment of the 'one bike' was more so based on if you were buying a brand new machine. Even if I bought a new rig I wouldn't get rid of my old rigs until they died. However, if I were planning on racing I would totaly buy a race rig (for whatever type of racing) and a trail rig. Or lets say a dirt jumper and a trail bike. Or a freeride machine and a trail rig. What I'm saying is at least have a fun trail rig :p